circle. We circled around the parking lot before seeing someone pulling out, Travis quickly getting into their vacant spot before another car drove past about ten seconds later, cursing both himself and us that he didn’t get that spot. This place was a lot busier than I had thought.
“Well, here we are,” Travis said as we walked up to the front door.
He held it open, another group coming out, before we walked in, the smell of smoke, wood, and alcohol almost enough to burn my eyes. The smell of booze in the air was likely enough to get me drunk without even consuming any alcohol. I guessed this was what a pub was, though I couldn’t say I’d ever been to one like it.
“Hey, Travis, how are you?” the hostess asked, smiling.
“Hey, Julia, I’m great, how are you?” Travis replied.
“Oh, I’m good. Just another busy night, as usual. You know what it’s like,” she said.
“Yeah, I hear you. How long is the wait for two?” Travis asked.
“Uh, supposed to be an hour, but for you, I can get you in within ten minutes or so,” she said.
“Wow, thanks, Julia! You’re the best. Yeah, we’ll sit anywhere there’s a spot. I know it’s harder this time of night,” Travis said.
“You’ve got it. I gotta get back to work, but nice seeing you,” she said.
He might not be Matthew Chase, but it looked like Travis did have some connections. They might be at a small, ugly pub, but they were connections nonetheless.
Chapter Six
Alexis
Travis and I sat on a little bench, all worn from years of use, as it was the only place that was open. An older couple had gotten up to go to their table, Travis beating out another couple who were moving in on the bench. It was a little awkward for me to sit down next to him, the other couple giving us annoyed looks, so I didn’t give them any real eye contact.
“Pretty cool place, huh?” Travis asked, as waiters and waitresses flew past us.
“Yup,” I replied, nodding as I watched them.
It wasn’t that great, truthfully, but I didn’t want to insult his choice of venue. He obviously liked this place, and if he did, I should give it a chance. After all, the fish taco shack was dumpy, but they had some of the best food I had ever eaten. I needed to give this place the same chance I gave that one. It was only fair.
We waited for around ten or twelve minutes before the hostess called us over, the entire waiting area giving us glares, the same way I did when someone who just walked in the door got in or got their food before me. People don’t like other people who cut in line, and that was obvious by the looks on the other customers’ faces.
We were taken to our seats, a small two-person table in the middle of the action, surrounded by groups of six, as well as other lone couples who were cramped into the sardine can that was this dining hall.
The ambiance was loud, making it hard to hear anything, which sort of killed the mood for me just a little bit. We had such a great conversation on our first date, and now we couldn’t even hear one another talk. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to have a second date, even if the food turned out to be great.
Our waiter, Neil, came a few minutes later with the menus, which the hostess hadn’t given us, which I thought was odd and different than every other place I’d ever been to, especially back home. He took our drink orders, and Travis got a soda while I got lemon water. I didn’t know why, but I had a thirst that couldn’t be quenched by soda. Maybe it was a sign.
“So, what’s good?” I asked.
“What?” he asked, looking up at me.
“I asked what’s good,” I said, louder.
“Oh. Well, I like the Irish chicken and garlic mashed potatoes. It has a cream sauce and it’s really good,” he said.
“Hm, anything lighter?” I asked.
“What?” he replied.
“Never mind,” I said, nodding and looking down at the menu.
I scanned over the menu. It had at least eighty items, causing my head to